Chilean Sea Bass with Tomato Herb Butter

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Thanks to a general boredom of eating the same thing over and over and wanting to provide fresh content for Tuck & Tate, we are constantly trying out new and different variations of recipes. As our husbands like to say, we rarely eat the same thing twice! As much as we love fish, we realized that we don’t cook it very often at home, and when we do, we gravitate to the same recipes and types of fish (salmon ). To expand our recipe book, we challenged ourselves to get out of this rut and try something new. “White fish with tomato butter” has been on our recipe brainstorming list for a while now, and it felt like it was meant to be when an email came for a Whole Foods sale on Chilean sea bass. If you are unfamiliar, this type of sea bass is ultra decadent; when cooked correctly it almost tastes like butter itself. We don’t buy it too often because it does have a hefty price tag, but every once in a while it is worth it for a special treat. That makes this recipe a great choice for a date night in or a small dinner party. If you cannot find Chilean sea bass, you can easily substitute halibut or cod. We love the addition of the tomato and herb butter, which brightens up the buttery fish with an acidic and earthy kick, making it a great recipe for the spring and summer.

Chilean Sea Bass with Tomato Herb Butter

  • Servings: 4
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A rich and decadent fish dish that is perfect for a dinner party or an at home date night.  

Ingredients

  • 4, 6 oz pieces of Chilean sea bass
  • 4 tbs olive oil, divided
  • 1 shallot, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, diced
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes
  • 1 large sprig fresh rosemary
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • a pinch of red chili flakes
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 4 tbs butter
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. While the fish is cooking, heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add 2 tbs olive oil to the pan and saute the shallot and garlic in the pan for 2-3 minutes, or until the ingredients become fragrant. Add the cherry tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, and red chili flakes to the pan and toss everything well to coat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes start to pop and the juice is running out of them.
  3. While the tomatoes are cooking, lay a piece of foil on a large cookie sheet. Pat the fillets of sea bass with a paper towel so that they are dry on all sides. Lay the fish skin side down on the foil and drizzle with the remaining 2 tbs of the olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. Bake for 13 minutes.
  4. When the tomatoes are bursting, add the white wine to the pan and stir the tomatoes well to break them down. Remove the rosemary and thyme sprigs from the tomatoes and discard. When the wine has reduced by half, remove the tomato mixture from the pan and place it in a blender. Blend until smooth. Add the tomato mixture back to the pan but do not keep any heat under the pan. Add the butter and whisk well to combine. Taste the mixture and season with salt and pepper.
  5. After the fish has cooked for 13 minutes, remove it from the oven and distribute the tomato butter evenly over the top of each of the four pieces. Put the fish back in the oven and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the fish is firm on all sides. It will flake easily with a fork when it is done cooking. Serve immediately.

Semi-Homemade Fish Tacos

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Last week we shared one of our favorite recipes for Spicy Slaw. We love this recipe because it can easily be paired with burgers, tacos, and even eaten plain as a salad. Today we are sharing one of our favorite uses of the slaw with this recipe for semi-homemade fish tacos. We use frozen fish filets in this recipe so that we can prepare the rest of the ingredients while the fish is cooking. This saves us a ton of time and cleanup in the kitchen and allows us to focus on preparing and incorporating fresh ingredients. Our taco toppings are fairly simple in this recipe, as this is a recipe we often use for weekday lunches. If you have more time in the kitchen, the sky is the limit with where you can take these. If you have some extra time, this recipe would pair perfectly with our avocado crema, red onion, and cotija cheese. We’d love to hear how you make it your own!

Semi-Homemade Fish Tacos

  • Servings: 6 tacos
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Our quick and easy recipe for semi-homemade fish tacos.

Ingredients

  • 2 frozen breaded fish filets (we used Trader Joe’s panko crusted tilapia)
  • 6 taco shells
  • 1 can black beans
  • Spicy Slaw
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • Salsa

Directions

  1. Prepare the fish according to package directions.
  2. While the fish is cooking, prepare the spicy slaw and set aside.
  3. Drain and rinse the black beans and heat in a pot over medium heat.
  4. When the fish is finished cooking, slice the fish into 1/2 inch pieces.
  5. Assemble the tacos. Place a generous portion of slaw in the taco shell. Top with black beans, fish, tomatoes, shredded cheddar and salsa. Serve immediately.

Crispy Fish Tacos

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We (Tuck’s family) have been living in Florida for about two weeks now and are totally spoiled when it comes to fish options compared to when we live in Colorado. We order fish tacos all the time when we go out for meals and figured it was time to make them at home. Our rental house does not have a grill, so we opted for crispy fish tacos. This makes the tacos a little more decadent, but no one in our house was complaining. 

When it comes to making any sort of tacos at home, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the toppings. Our favorite fish taco toppings are usually some sort of spicy aioli and a creamy, limey coleslaw. We have combined those two in this recipe to save some time in the kitchen and love the outcome. The spicy coleslaw is helps balance out the richness of the fried fish. We like to finish our tacos with fresh avocado, a few slices of red onion, a healthy squeeze of lime and a slice of jalapeno for punch, but add or subtract any ingredients to achieve your taco making dreams! 

Crispy Fish Tacos
Makes: 4 servings 
Prep Time: 30 minutes   Total Time: 45 minutes 

Ingredients For Crispy Fish: 

  • 1 1/2 lbs flakey white fish- we used red snapper but tilapia, cod, and halibut work well
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 1 tbs water 
  • up to 1 cup vegetable oil 

Ingredients For Chipotle Lime Coleslaw: 

  • 3 cups shredded cabbage or cabbage salad mix 
  • 2 chipotles in adobo, finely minced 
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise or Greek yogurt 
  • juice of one lime
  • 1 tbs honey 
  • 2 tsp cumin 
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 
  • salt and pepper to taste 

Ingredients for Additional Tacos and Toppings: 

  • 12 taco sized tortillas 
  • one lime, cut into wedges 
  • 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced 
  • 1 avocado, sliced 
  • 1 jalapeno (optional) 
  • additional cilantro leaves 

Directions: 

  1. Prepare the fish. Cut the fish into slices about two fingers thick so that they are in bite-sized pieces. We bought true “taco tortillas” that are about 4 inches in diameter. Judge the size of the fish based on the size of your tortilla. 
  2. Whisk the eggs and 1 tbs water in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Put the bread crumbs in a second bowl and also season with salt and pepper. Create an assembly line to bread the fish pieces, dunking each piece in egg wash and then in the bread crumbs. Place the breaded fish onto a cookie sheet for easy access while cooking. 
  3. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add enough vegetable oil to the pan so that the bottom is coated. When the oil is hot, add the fish pieces to the pan. The fish should be in one layer and not over crowded. It will likely take you 3+ rounds in the pan to get all the fish cooked. Cook the fish for 3 minutes per side, or until the fish is completely cooked through. Remove from the pan and onto paper towel to drain the excess oil. Season with a bit of salt. Repeat this step as necessary, including refilling the oil if needed, until all the fish is cooked. 
  4. Make the coleslaw. Combine the wet ingredients of the slaw (chipotles in adobo-cilantro) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk well to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste. Depending on how spicy you want the slaw you might add additional mayo or honey. Add the cabbage to the slaw dressing and mix to combine.
  5. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds. Assemble the tacos by layering the coleslaw on the bottom and fish on top. Top with any additional desired ingredients from the list above. Enjoy immediately.